(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vending machine for selling commodities such as packaged beverages in accordance with a selling request.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
A general vending machine using a serpentine rack as a commodity housing unit operates a vent mechanism of the predetermined rack in accordance with a selling request, drops a lowest commodity in the rack on a tilted chute, moves the commodity dropped on the tilted chute downward along the tilt, and conveys the commodity to a commodity takeout port. Though this type of the vending machine has an advantage that it does not require a complex mechanism to convey the commodity to the commodity takeout port, an impact noise when the commodity drops is large as well as the commodity may be damaged by an impact when the commodity drops.
In view of the above situation, a vending machine is also proposed which has a commodity conveying unit for directly receiving a commodity from a commodity housing unit and conveying the commodity to a predetermined position such as a commodity takeout port.
In the vending machine having the commodity conveying unit, it is necessary to change operation modes of the commodity conveying unit in accordance with the size, shape, or type of the commodity so as to receive and convey the commodity in an optimum state.
For example, in a vending machine using a conveyer rack or tilted rack for housing the commodities by longitudinally arranging them in an erect state as the commodity housing unit and using a mechanism constituted so that a receiving unit such as a bucket or hand capable of receiving the commodity can be moved as the commodity conveying unit; or a vending machine using a serpentine rack or other direct loading rack constituted so as to be movable as the commodity housing unit and using a mechanism constituted so that a receiving unit such as a bucket capable of receiving the commodity can be moved as the commodity conveying unit; it is necessary to select an operation mode of the receiving unit in conformity with the commodity so that the commodity can be received and conveyed in an optimum state.
Generally, part number data for specifying commodities is input and stored in a memory at a stage of housing the commodities in the commodity housing units. However, to select the operation mode of the receiving unit in conformity with the commodity, it is necessary to at least input and store size data of the commodities together. However, a large number of types of the commodities are handled by one vending machine and a replacement frequency of the commodities is high. Therefore, to store necessary and sufficient commodity data corresponding to all of the commodities, the memory having a large capacity and an input time corresponding to data quantity are necessary.